Special assignment
by Shi no tamashii
Summary: The file was given him per accident. Even Will hadn't seen the name yet! So...who is Grell supposed to reap and will William and Ronald come in time before things get really out of hand?
1. That reaper, alone

**A/N: This will probably only be a two-chapter long story, but it's worth reading...I hope :')**

Red. The color of beauty. The color of death, pain, destruction. Nobody saw. Nobody cared. He was just a nuisance for his collegues, a hassle. Of course he was! He was trying to be the opposit of who he truly was! It was better not to let people get close to him, for one day his time would come. Be it by a reaping accident or by his own hands. It was better to leave no one behind. Though, deep inside he wished to have someone he could talk to. Someone who wanted to listen to him, who saw his agony, who wanted to embrace him and tell him that everything was going to be alright. But there was no one like that in dispatch. They all thought he was truly the flamboyant reaper he let on to believe he was. He was so used to this facade that it became a part of him. Even if he tried he wouldn't be able to act...naturally around the reapers he knew.  
So here he stood. The roof looked like one big water pool. He looked over the city of London, the night was still young and his next reaping assignment was going to be underneath the very building he was standing on. He could even see the old funeral director's mortuary from where he stood. It was right across the street after all. There was a fancy looking carriage at the door too. Digging up old memories, Grell recognized it as the Phantomhive's. Now he thought of it, Grell hadn't even looked at the name yet of the person he was supposed to reap. He doubted even William had seen it before he handed the file hastily and shooed him out of his office. Grell sighed as he opened the file. His eyes widened at what he saw. He felt time stop before he slowly backed away from the edge of the roof. Sure this couldn't be the one _he_ should be reaping?! His mouth kept gaping at the name written on the suddenly too bright white paper. The picture on the upper left corner confirmed everything though. He swallowed thickly before looking at the time of death. 2 PM. Good, that were three hours to prepare himself.

 **In Willliam's office**

"Sir? Have you seen the last name on the To-Die list?" Ronald Knox asked looking pale and shaken.

"No, I gave the file with the last name to Grell. What does it matter, Knox?" William asked not once looking to the young blonde. Ronald sat down heavily. To his right lay William's To-Die list and he quickly grabbed the book and turned the pages until he was on the last one with names. "Knox! I needed that page." William said angrily. Now he had to look for it again and some names were very common, meaning it was written more than a few times. Ignoring his boss, Ronald shoved the book back to William.

"Look who senpai's supposed to reap." He said in a barely audible whisper. William's anger was immediately forgotten when he read the name. He looked up at Ronald and stood up from his chair hastily.

"We better find Sutcliff fast." William said. His heart was beating furiously against his chest and in his ears. William was quick in forming a portal and pushed Ronald through it first before going through himself. Reaping someone was one thing. Preventing someone's death was another. They weren't supposed to prevent anything but they were Death Gods, surely they could stretch a life span. Right?

 **TO BE CONTINUED...**

 **A/N: Oh my, who's Grell supposed to reap then? A fellow reaper? A human with a demon as buttler? Hmm...guehehe that's for me to know and for you to find out~**  
 **But I can assure you that it's no one you think MUWAHAHAHAHA**


	2. That reaper, saved?

Grell was still on the building, looking down sadly. The Phantomhive carriage had left an hour ago and had Grell one and a half hour left to prepare for his next big assignment. He kept staring at the name that was written before him. So, that was how much William truly cared about him? Why not? Sure the man loved hitting on him but letting him reap..  
"Miss Sutcliff?" A voice from beneath asked loud enough for the red reaper to hear. His thoughts now interrupted, Grell looked downward. The reaper jumped off the roof towards the owner of the voice.

"How could you see me up there without glasses?" Grell asked, folding his arms with a frown. The white haired man before him giggled at him before answering,

"You're the only red blur in London, of course I'd recognize you." The mortician said. "It's late to be out on the streets alone." He said with a tilt of his head. "Why won't you come in?" The Undertaker asked offering a hand. Grell looked back down to the file in his hand and shrugged. What would it hurt?

"I'd love to." Grell said taking Undertaker's extended hand. "Such a gentleman." He giggled blushing furiously. The Undertaker giggled and covered his mouth with his free hand.

"Is that the person you should be reaping? Is that why you're out here alone?" Undertaker asked with a smile. Of course he didn't know who it was. Though he had felt a strong feeling of death lately. The person who was going to die was near. What with him being retired, he didn't have the To-Die list anymore so he couldn't check it out himself. Grell hugged the file close to his chest.

"Yes." He said looking away from the silver haired reaper.

"My, the body's going to lay on one of my tables soon enough, why are you so protective over it?" Undertaker asked noting Grell's possesiveness over the file. He found it mildly amusing and he grinned at the redhead.

"I'm not doubting that." Grell said. Tears were starting to form in his eyes as he looked back up at the ancient. He hadn't even noticed they were already inside the spider web-covered building. He also hadn't noticed he was already sitting on one of the numerous coffins. With dread in his eyes, Grell held out the file for Undertaker to see. The mortician frowned at the look the younger reaper gave him before taking the file and opening it. The first thing he saw was the name.

No.  
Where was dispatch heading to?! Undertaker felt different emotions running loose. His smile dropped and his legs felt like jelly. He stared in disbelief at the name and cause of death. Anger was a feeling he hadn't felt since long. How could those idiots give him such an assignment?! There. Written black on white. _Grell Sutcliff. Died at 2 PM because of suicide. Victem is a grim reaper but no one will find him until it is too late._ How could dispatch let them reap himself or even let a reaper be reaped in the first place?! Undertaker was at a loss of words. Oh, how he wanted to burn the file and destroy all its contents. How sorely he wished for its words to be forgotten. He looked up at Grell who had started crying silently.

"Perhaps I should just get it over with." Grell said in sorrow. Undertaker shook his head. His tongue refused to work.

"You shouldn't. You wouldn't even do it if you hadn't had the file in the first place." Undertaker said silently, finding his voice at last. Grell's tears kept coming as he stood up.

"I can't ignore a soul that's put up for reaping. Not even if it's my own." Grell said as he turned away. Undertaker grabbed his wrist and pulled the younger reaper to himself.

"Don't do this. Just leave your scythe where it is now and wait until after 2 PM. You'll see. Your name will vanish from the list." Undertaker said softly. Grell turned himself in the Undertaker's embrace and hugged the elder.

"I'm scared." The redhead admitted. Undertaker said nothing. He just held him in a strong embrace. Only one hour left.

 **With William and Ronald.**

The two reapers had gone to the place where Grell's assignment would be post haste. He wasn't there. Ronald had felt his heart skip a beat or two when he looked through the empty street.  
"His time of death hasn't changed yet, he's still alive." William said looking around. He looked up at the building the red reaper had stood upon half an hour before. "Perhaps he's up there." He thought out loud.

"Don't you think he'd rather escape his death, sir?" Ronald asked. Why would he reap himself after all?

"No. It says here clearly that he'll commit suicide. What's written in the book can't change." William said nearly sighing.

"Why would he do that?" Ronald asked silently. Why would his mentor even think of suicide? William ignored the blonde and started ascending the large building. He could sense Grell clearly. Or that was just the red reaper's perfume's scent. "I mean, he doesn't seem depressed to me." Ronald continued while William was already halfway up the building. The stoic reaper extended his scythe and when it was gripping something, William made the pole extract itself so he'd be lifted up on the building rooftop. Once there he found the place to be abandoned, he corrected his glasses with his scythe and nearly sighed again. "You see, he's always onto every man he sees but he's still my mentor. But I guess I don't know him as well as I thought." Ronald said still talking. William jumped up behind him and Ronald found himself jumping in surprise. "Sir?" He asked shocked.

"The roof is empty. We should find him, Knox." William said thoughtfully. Ronald made a huffing sound before crossing his arms. He'd been talking to himself, thinking William was right behind him?! Let's check all nearby streets." William suggested.

"Alright, I'll check the streets on the south." Ronald said knowing how dire their situation actually was.

"Very well, I'll go north." William said.

 **With Grell and The Undertaker**

Half an hour until time of death.

Undertaker and Grell sat in silence. The clock was ticking loud. The sound was deafening to both reapers. Grell was lost in sorrowful thoughts. Shouldn't he just run out the door and make it quick? One cannot escape death after all. Undertaker was thinking something completely different. He was angry. He was mad at dispatch for ever giving Grell such an assignment. He knew the red reaper wasn't very loved among his collegues but that didn't mean they had to lead him straight to his death! The elder had sensed the other two reapers nearby but he didn't spend a second thought about it. They'd probably been send to check if Grell would go through with it. Apparently Grell hadn't noticed in his distraught state.  
"How rude of me!" Undertaker said standing up. "Do you want some tea, miss Sutcliff?" The mortician asked with a smile that seemed to be forced on his lips.

"No thank you." Grell answered silently. The reaper knew he had his own To-Die list with him but he didn't dare to look.

25 minutes left.

That he knew all too well. His choice was made. He should go. "I'm going, Undertaker. Thank you for your help." Grell said standing up from the coffin he'd been sitting on.

"I'd advise you not to move even one inch, Sutcliff." Undertaker said, his tone was bitter and dripped with venom. Where had that come from?

"Undertaker?" Grell questioned, his voice came out as an unmanly squeak. He watched Undertaker come to him with regret written all over the mortician's face. "What are you doing?" Grell asked truly scared. Undertaker grabbed both Grell's wrists and pinned the shorter reaper against the wall. Unresisting legs following the mortician's movements.

"You won't leave this place until I'm sure you won't do anything stupid." Undertaker said his bangs parted so Grell could see the haunting seriousness in the elder's shinigami eyes. Grell nodded with wide scared eyes. The clock seemed to start its countdown when they had only,

5 minutes left.

It was agonizingly slow. One more minute and there were only

4 minutes left.

Undertaker's piercing eyes were burning into Grell's own. It looked as if the silver reaper was trying to make sure the younger reaper wouldn't suddenly disappear.

3 minutes left.

Both beating hearts seemed to go faster when they saw the clock next to them.

2 minutes left.

Da-thump da thump, da-thump da-thump, ...

1 minute left..

 _WHAM!_ Their hards stopped and both reapers clinged to each other at the loud sound. The door had been kicked in. Apparently it had started raining and a soaking wet William stood in the doorway gasping for air.

TIME'S UP.

"Sutcliff! Grell, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have given you that file! A shinigami can't be reaped, every once in a while there is a time when a reaper's supposedly mortal death would take place. These files get destroyed because they have no meaning. Their names will appear in the To-Die list but they disappear without any consequences whatsoever." William explained hastily. He was gripping the doorway. He'd ran as fast as he could when he realized they'd been standing at Undertaker's door not too long ago. Of course he'd be there! Grell let go of the ancient he'd been clinging to and frowned. Something in his mind seemed to click. Will had come running through the pouring rain just to prevent him from killing himself?! At that thought Grell's smile felt for the first time genuine. His eyes lit up in true happiness and he felt the tears coming up again. He ran to his supervisor and hugged him. Tears were steadily rolling off his cheeks. Tears of happiness.

"Thank you." Grell sniffed and closed his eyes in the embrace William was hesitant to return. On that moment Ronald came up behind them.

"I missed something." He noted with a frown. He looked at The Undertaker who'd come closer to the two hugging reapers and shot a questioning glare towards the elder. Undertaker giggled before shrugging.

Grell felt more loved than ever at that moment. He now knew that not only did Undertaker seem to care for him, so did Ronald and even William! Grell's days were now filled with less jumping but more with reaping. Perhaps he would become a legend too one day. How nice it would be to have a statue of his own next to The Undertaker's.

THE END

 **A/N: Yay for happy ending! :DD**


End file.
